It takes a lot of work to get the body pictured above. He tells us how he does it, and if you are as dedicated as he is, maybe you too can pull it off.

Did he have a trainer?
Yes he used Hugh Jackman’s trainer who helped to train Hugh during X-Men.

His workout.
He says that a year ago he was 240 pounds and would always squat and bench as heavy as he could. Now what he needed to do was carve and sculpt the clay that he had already made.

He does a six day a week program with two workouts per day. He does the cardio in the morning, then he does weight training later in the day.

He starts his day doing cardio on an empty stomach. He does 45 minutes of cardio, not at break neck speed but at a good, even fat-burning heart rate of 125-155 beats per minute.
After that he enjoys breakfast which usually consists of oatmeal, or maybe an egg white omelet with some sausage, and he adds a couple of scoops of whey protein to water to wash it all down with.

He does way too many things to keep it mixed up so I will not post it all here. Muscle confusion equals progress, he says. Intensity, Variety, and Brutality. He does high reps with little to no rest. One example he gives us is that say he is doing Chest and Biceps day. He  will do a set of presses, do a set of flyes, and immediately do a drop set for biceps.

He’ll do 15 reps of each exercise for 4 sets. alternating between wide and close grip flyes with no rest in between. Then he will move onto doing incline bench and throw in some rope curls, before moving on to machine curls. He only weight trains for 1 hour then he is done.

ABP: Always Be Pumping.
When he is on the road shooting True Blood, he does circuit style resistance training in his trailer. He uses 25 pound hand weights, a push up stand where he pumps out 500-600 push-ups of varying grips, a Bosu ball and elastic bands for biceps. If he’s shooting a scene shirtless, he takes weights to the set and performs reps in between takes.

Diet is key

He is big on the low carbohydrate lifestyle. The only carbs he eats is the oatmeal in the morning after his cardio workout. Other than that, no breads, no sugars, no carbs throughout the rest of the day. “Its really all about getting in good clean forms of protein and fibrous vegetables” he says. He does eat fruit, but protein is the bulk of his diet, whether its salmon or good clean buffalo meat, that’s his favorite. He also eats lots of egg whites and whey protein throughout the day.

This is why I do not have a body like his. I can not be that strict on my diet. I do not have the will power. Maybe some of you out there can. If you can, gemme one more rep!

Stay pumped!

From time to time I like to find a real life true success story from in the gym and post it on the website. For about a year now I have watched this young guy get thicker and thicker in the gym. It has not quite been a year since I first met him yet, but in the short time I have gotten to know him, he has really shown some improvement in the gym.

Here is his story…

My name is Mason Colby Palazzolo, I born on September 1, 1990 in Grenada, Ms. I was born normal until I was 5 months old. I was really sick so my parents rushed me to the hospital and see the doctor. He recommend medicine that I needed to cure my sickness however, he gave me the wrong medicine and it has caused my hearing loss (side effects of the medicine). My Parents were very angry at him and wanted to sue him, so in the court..he had to pay the fine of $42,000. Since I was three years old, its been very difficult to talk, because I can not hear anything. My parents wanted to find something to help me to hear again. So, we headed to Memphis, TN. They have surgery operation for deaf people. Now, after the surgery..I have a machine called Cochlear Implant, its where they put a magnet inside of my head and I have this machine to wear on my head thats stuck to the magnet to hear. I was really blessed that I have great parents to help me hear again. I really love them to death. With the cochlear implant that I wear everyday, I slowly build my speech and hearing every day of my life.

In my high school years, it was very difficult to make friends. People make fun of my hearing, speech….etc. It lowers my self esteem, but I had to do my best to finish 4 years of school. When I graduated, I was very happy because I didn’t have to go through that again! After I was done with high school, I had nothing to do. I had no friends, no job….I was a really lazy person. I stayed at home all day long to play videos games, watch TV..etc. It really makes me angry a lot. I saw my classmates at high school, they really have great life, jobs, pretty girlfriends….its just really makes me so mad because those classmate used to make fun of me. So, I found a gym, Snap fitness in my local town because I wanted to release my anger.

When I worked out at my gym, I had no idea what to do. I had no previous experience to build muscle, exercise…etc. There owner of the gym helped me out. He taught me how to lift, how to eat right, and everything I needed to know. After I learned about gym and researching, I was completed addicted to the gym, because I always have anger issues and the gym helps me focus my anger on the weights. I watched my body grow rapidly every day. I was very happy. It has helped build my self esteem. I was always mad before I started working out at the gym but after I started  working out in the gym, I became a happier person. It really is amazing feeling you get from a goot workout at the gym.

Since I am an ectomorph (a.k.a hard gainers) my metabolism went through the roof, I could eat everything I can find and not gain on muscle, weight or fat. Before I joined the gym, I weighed around 119-121 LBS at the age of 18-19. I had a lot of people tell me I should go eat some more meat or put some meat in your bones! Well, honestly, I love meat. I eat it everyday. In fact, I eat it a lot, I just cant gain weight from it! It was my cursed metabolism takes over. Some people said I am blessed to have fast metabolism but I do not like it because I cant gain muscle and it was very hard. Since, I have fast metabolism. The personal trainer at my local gym told me that I should focus on compound exercise only, like the squat, dead-lifts, bench press…etc. no machine weights or smith machines. I focused on 8-10 reps of 3-4 sets really HEAVY. So, in that way I could gain more muscle mass.

It was very hard but it was well worth it. My diet is very balanced. My diet is in high in protein, high in carbs, moderate fats. I eat every 2-3 hrs to satisfy my hunger, to keep my energy up high, so I can work out very hard. After 5-7 months of working out hard with successful diet. I have gained 22 lbs! Went from 121 to 144 lbs in just only 7 months! i was very surprised because i though i would be 121 for rest of my life lol. Some people thought I was on the juice (steroids), just because I gained muscle rapidly. This doesn’t always mean that you are on steroids. It just takes a lot of dedication, hard work, will power, and patience.

I am also pretty short, 5’7-5’8 tall. So being short actually helps get muscle faster. I might have good genetics but who knows? I was very happy with the results I got and am still getting! Its helped my get self esteem back! I made great friends, had girlfriends and even a job! I love gym, its my passion. It changed my life. If u have similar problems like I have, you should do what I did. I guaranteed you will love it.

DIET

Meal 1: Pro/Carb 8:00am
8 Egg Whites, 1 Scoop Of Whey Protein, 1 cup oatmeal
50g protein / 54g carbs / 5g fat

Meal 2: Pro/Fat 10:00am
Lean Ground Beef, 50g Cottage Cheese, green veggies
35g protein / 2g carbs / 20g fat

Meal 3: Pro/Carb 12:00pm
2 x Chicken Breast, 1 and a half cup Brown Rice
42g protein / 84g carbs / 3g Fat

Meal 4: Pro/Fat 2:00pm
2 Medium Cans of Tuna , Veggies
28g protein / 6g carbs / 10g Fat

Meal 5: PPWO 5.00pm
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, ½ cup Brown Rice (Measured Uncooked)
24g protein / 70g carbs / 3g fat

Workout: 7:00pm

Meal 6: PWO Right After Training
2 Scoops Whey Protein / 80g of Dextrose
45g protein / 80g carbs / 0g fat

Meal 7: Pro/Fat 8-8:15pm
Lean Protein of your choice, 2 Tbsp Natural Peanut Butter
24g protein / 5g carbs / 18g fat

Meal 8: Before Bed 10:00pm
3 Scoops of Casein Protein, 1.5 Tbsp. Flax Seed Oil
60g protein / 3g carbs / 21g Fat

Before Picture.

After Picture

Good job Mase! One More Rep! Stay focused and keep reaching your goals.

If you have a success story and would like it to be published on this site to help motivate other, please contact us.

If you don’t know what IRC is, it’s Internet relay chat, and in that channel (#bodybuilding) we discuss all things diet and exercise.

The video that was posted was about 9 minutes long and very informative.

I’ve been trying to explain this to people for years. Now it’s put into an easy to understand simple video.

The video covers the acidity and alkalinity of several foods and drinks and how your body struggles to maintain an internal balance.

Some things not covered in the video are facts about the artificial sweeteners used in the diet sodas that also do harm to your system.

Did you know that aspartame turns to formaldehyde in your body? Why put your liver through such hell?

I’ve covered that before on this site, feel free to look for it, or email me for a link.

Check put the video link below.

I see it all the time, guys grunting and killing themselves and for what? I can understand breaking new personal records and pushing through boundaries, but seriously guys and gals, whats the point in lifting weight that you cant handle?

Please, for everyone’s sake including your own. Leave your ego at in the car, hell leave it at home.
Lift WITHIN your means never beyond it. That’s how you get hurt.

If you care not to heed my warning, you could end up like this douche bag.

BEFORE

AFTER

I’ll take reps over weight any day.

I had the pleasure of being interviewed recently by a fitness professional from NYC, Certified Personal Trainer, Geovanni Derice. The interview is below and I think you’re going to like it… I reveal some of the hardest hitting strategies for getting rid of that stubborn stomach fat to uncover those flat six pack abs that everyone wants.

“GD: Welcome Mike to our 4-ever-Toned Fitness Journal. For those who do not know you, please tell us a few things about yourself and how you can help our readers with their fitness and health.

MG: Thanks for having me, Geo. Well, to go back a little, I have been heavily involved in fitness and sports for about 17 years now, ever since I was a teenager. Being involved in sports in high school got me interested in strength training and conditioning.

At that point, once I started feeling more energetic, getting stronger, and looking better, I was instantly hooked for life. I’m 33 now and still addicted to the way living a healthy and fit lifestyle makes me feel energetic, confident, strong, and youthful on a daily basis.

I decided earlier in my 20′s that I wanted to make the commitment to help other people experience the excitement of being fit and getting in the best shape of their lives, especially since we’ve reached an epidemic of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, depression, etc. That’s why I became a fitness professional. It just gives me so much satisfaction to help others, who have struggled for years to get in good shape, and show them that it can be done, and it can be fun in the process.

I’ve expanded over the years from just reaching local individuals with personal training, into being able to help people all over the globe achieve their fitness goals with the reach of the internet. I only hope that my passion for fitness inspires people to take action and improve how they look and feel for life.

GD: Now Mike, there’s so many things out there as to what works and what does not work… if you had to pick 3 things that work time and time again to get flat lean abs, what would they be?

MG: The first and most important thing to get control of in order to lose your belly fat and get flat abs is cleaning up your diet. Exercise is important, but your diet is king when it comes to losing body fat so that you can see your abs.

There’s so much confusion these days about what a healthy diet that promotes fat loss really is… after all, we are bombarded by conflicting messages in the media about what is healthy and what is not, and you have all of these gimmicky diet books about low carb, low fat, high protein, vegetarian, fasting, Atkins, South Beach, liquid diets, and hundreds more. There’s so much conflicting info, that the average consumer doesn’t even know where to start when it comes to eating for fat loss.

The second thing that works time and time again, is to focus on the intensity of your workouts and focus on working the body as a whole in order to get the best metabolic response to lose that stubborn stomach fat.

In order to really get lean, the workouts should have a high intensity, with short rest periods, working the largest muscle groups of the body, instead of trying to isolate specific small muscles like the biceps, triceps, or calves.

For the third thing, let’s talk about actually training the abs specifically. When it comes to training the abs, if you want real results, I always recommend forgetting about the crunches and sit-ups for the most part. They are ok for someone that is really deconditioned, but most people that already have some training under their belt need a much better stimulus for their abs than crunches. Crunches are one of the abs exercises that actually provide the least amount of resistance, and remember that resistance is what develops and tones the muscles.

I provide a ton of great abs exercises in my book, but one of THE highest resistance exercises for the abs, is hanging leg raises (but NOT the way you see most people at the gym doing them). The key to doing these and actually working the hell out of your abs is to curl your pelvis up as you raise your legs. Almost nobody ever does this right. To be honest, the majority of people cannot do this at first, but I provide some strategies in my book as to how to progress to doing these correctly.

GD: What are people doing wrong when it comes to developing the coveted “6 pack abs”?

MG: Well Geo, I know this sounds funny to most people, but the MAIN thing that people are doing wrong to get those flat 6-pack abs is… are you ready for this?

They spend entirely too much time focusing on training their abs! WAY too much time spent on abs exercises. Sounds crazy, but it’s true.

Remember, having a flat and visible six pack of abs is all about getting down to a low body fat percentage. In order to do that, your workouts must focus on stimulating a fat burning hormonal environment in your body, and increasing your metabolic rate. That just does not happen when you focus too much time training a small muscle group like the abs.

Instead, you must use the majority of your time focusing on training the largest muscle groups of the body like the legs, back, and chest. That’s what stimulates your metabolism and the fat burning hormones that will get you truly lean and sporting a flat sixxer!

GD: Which exercises are the top exercises that people need to do if they are to get maximum definition with their midsection?

MG: When it comes to developing the abs themselves, I again refer to any kinds of hanging abs exercises, as well as some good floor abs exercises like lying leg thrusts (all described and illustrated in my book).

However, maximum definition in the abs and midsection comes from losing body fat, and the most effective exercises featured in my program for that goal are various forms of swings and snatches (unique dumbbell or kettle bell exercises that almost nobody ever does in normal gyms), squats, dead lifts, lunges, step-ups, clean & presses, mountain climbers, sprinting, and other full body exercises and calisthenics. If you want great looking flat abs, focus on those instead of focusing so much on training the abs directly!

GD: When it comes to diet Mike, people really have tried millions of ways to get one thing… and that is fat loss. What recommendations have you used to successfully help your clients lose body fat and keep it off?

MG: I have included a fully comprehensive discussion of this topic in my book, which accounts for almost half of the book, but I’ll try to make some nice simple generalizations to get people started on the right path immediately. The most important thing is that your diet is as natural and unprocessed as possible. It almost always comes back to the over processing of food that makes it unhealthy, and makes it totally wreck your metabolism and hormone balance in your body.

For example, why eat refined grains, when you can eat whole grains (even better are sprouted grains, as I usually recommend limiting grain foods overall for best results).

Why eat refined sugar, when you can get natural sources of sugar from a high nutrient whole food like fruit. Why eat highly processed, refined, and hydrogenated vegetable oils (these are THE worst thing in the modern diet), when you can eat natural sources of healthy fats like nuts, avocados, fish, eggs, coconut milk, organically raised meat, and so forth.

The point is to not fall for some gimmick like extremely low carbs (although I do believe in a fairly reduced carb intake as that is a big problem for most people), low fat, super high protein, or any other combination that has you focusing on one macro-nutrient vs. another.

Your body needs all macro-nutrients to thrive and obtain a variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Trying to cut an entire food group out just works against what your body needs. I get into much more detail on this vitally important topic towards losing body fat (especially that stubborn stomach fat) for life in my book.

GD: Thank you very much Mike for sharing with us all of this great information.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this interview and plucked several nuggets of info to get you motivated and started on showing off your flat abs shortly. If you don’t already own a copy, be sure to pick up a copy of the Truth about Six Pack Abs book and discover the entire system Mike developed for ridding yourself of that extra ab fat for good!

It is a documentary on steroids and supplements in America.

Very Informative. Don’t waste a minute…watch this video

Here is a new five day workout routine that’s meant to add bulk and strength.
Remember to go heavy as you can for the reps given.

Don’t get all Wizard Sleeve on me and lift a few reps past what you are supposed too.
When it says 8 reps, I want you to lift some HEAVY WEIGHT so that the 8th rep is a HARD ONE.

Lets do this for a month and maybe a month and a half and they we will change it up and do something that will lean us out for summer.

Enjoy.

Monday

• Incline Flyes 3×20
• Incline Barbell Press 4×8
• Incline Dumbbell  4×8
• Bench Press 4×10
• Flyes Machine 5×8

Tuesday

• Lat Pull downs 4×15
• Dumbbell Rows 5×10
• Reverse Grip Pull downs 4×10
• Wide Grip Row Machine 4×8
• Cable Rows 3×10

Wednesday

• Dumbbell Shoulder Press 5×8
• Lateral Raises 4×10
• Front Raises 3×12
• Upright Rows 4×8
• Shrugs Barbell 4×10
• Reverse Flyes 4×8

Thursday

• Leg Extension 4×15
• Leg Curls 4×12
• Leg Press 5×15
• Deadlift 3×12
• Lunges stationary 4×12
• Calf Raises 4×15

Friday

• Barbell Curls wide grip 5×10
• Tricep Rope Pressdown 5×10
• Hammer Curls 4×12 or Concentration Curls
• Close Grip Bench 4×12
• Preacher Curls 4×8
• Dips 4×10
• Machine Curls 1×20
• Straight Bar Tricep Press down 1×20
• Wrist Curls 4×15

Before you get started read this several times. I have had some get confused and omit the Italian dressing, and even boil the tuna from the start. First of all the Italian dressing is the most important part to the flavor, second I only add the tuna at the end and let it sit in the water for about 1 minute to get it all warm.

I call it Tuna Deluxe. Its Tuna with Pasta, throw some peas of some sort in there for the fiber, AND THE MOST IMPORTANT PART add Italian Dressing and lots of pepper with a dash of salt. Some all the tuna and pasta meal the prison meal cause they say its what a lot of inmates eat in the “joint” to get huge. If it works for them hopefully it will work for me, and its delicious to boot! I would pay for what this meal I am about to teach you to create.

Thank me later. (or now)

Ok you will need the following:

• A pot to boil water in, mine is a 1 1/2 quart or maybe its 2.
• 2 cans of chunk light tuna in water, drained
• 2 1/2 cup of uncooked wide egg noodles
• 1/2 can of chickpeas or any peas for that matter. I like chickpeas, but purple hull peas or crowder peas work well too.
• 3/4 cup Italian Dressing
• Salt and lots of Pepper

Ok here is all our ingredients we will be using. Listen to me real quick. This may sound disgusting and even look disgusting but trust me, if you like pasta, you like tuna, you like Italian dressing…you will like this.

Ok boil your water, add the pasta, and yes I know it seems like a lot, but HEY we gotta feed those muscles!
When cooking noodles you can add a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to keep it from boiling over.
Cook it for about 7 minutes or until tender but not gummy. We want out pasta to have a little bit of strength to it. Its know as Al Dente.

I like to add my peas into the mix before the boil so that they are nice and warm. I just cook it all right in, no need for extra dishes to dirty up.
I know this might look a little nasty, but trust me it will be great in the end. As you can see in this picture I have added half a can of purple hull peas.
I did not have any chickpeas, so the purple hull will have to do. The Tuna is open and ready to go in later. Yes it gets grosser.

Now everything has boiled up pretty good now, the pasta is just about right and now I have added all my tuna.
I only add the tuna right at the end. It does not sit in there the entire time.
I add it and let it sit in the water for about 1 minute to get warm, then drain it all.
I do it this way so that it will all be nice and warm and no separate dishes to wash.

After a little while I drained everything in a strainer and put it back in the pot.
Here we have peas, pasta, and tuna.

Now lets add the Italian Dressing. I usually use 3/4 to 1 full cup with this much pasta.

Doh! Lets not forget the pepper! I add about 3 tablespoons of pepper. I aint skeered! I like it just a little spicy.
I like to know I AM ALIVE ! Just stir it on in there big boy. Don’t cry.

Look at that right there. That’s some muscle food right there son!
Trust me, unless you are a hawg, you will have a little left over in the pot for a midnight snack.

Trust me it looks better in person and taste marvelous. Now go cook some!

When you do the math, sometimes you will quickly see that not all things are as safe as they appear to be. Dont get me wrong this is still a good meal for bulking, but the italian dressing surprised me. Use it lightly, just for taste and you will be fine. Also some say the refined carbs in the pasta are a bad idea. If refined carbs bothers you, simply use wheat pasta. I have no problem or guilt from ingesting refined carbohydrates.

Tuna x 2 cans
Calories 200
Fat 4 grams
Protein 44 grams
Carbs 0 grams

Pasta 2 1/2 cups uncooked
Calories 440
Fat 6 grams
Protein 16 grams
Carbs 80 grams

Purple Hull Peas
Calories 135
Fat 0 grams
Protein 9 grams
Carbs 29 grams

Italian Dressing
Calories 432
Fat 43 grams
Protein 0 grams
Carbs 14 grams

Grand Total for it all
Calories 1227
Fat 53 grams
Protein 69 grams
Carbs 123 grams